Large deficits per Bodybugg but not losing

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makcarly
makcarly Posts: 24 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
My last weigh-in was 5/20 and I weighed in at 291 lbs. I weighed in today at 294. I began wearing a Bodybugg on 5/20 and here is my daily info since then:

5/20- 2388 burned/1339 consumed/1049 deficit- only wore BB half-day
5/21- 4245 burned/1559 consumed/2686 deficit
5/22- 3559 burned/1567 consumed/1992 deficit
5/23- 3149 burned/1469 consumed/1680 deficit
5/24- 2962 burned/1259 consumed/1703 deficit
5/25- 2717 burned/1215 consumed/1503 deficit
5/26- 2918 burned/1382 consumed/1536 deficit
5/27- 2910 burned/1190 consumed/1720 deficit
5/28- 3773 burned/1589 consumed/2185 deficit
5/29- 3525 burned/1244 consumed/2281 deficit
5/30- 3338 burned/1556 consumed/1782 deficit
5/31- 2754 burned/4095 consumed/1341 surplus- bday dinner
6/1- 2919 burned/1490 consumed/1429 deficit

As you can see, I only had one surplus but I don't think that alone could contribute to my gain. It looks like I should have lost something due to my deficits which I think are fairly large. I do watch my sodium (keep it under 2,000 mg) and it has only been above that 2x since wearing the bodybugg. I try to get an hour in of cardio each day.

Replies

  • christinad95
    christinad95 Posts: 201 Member
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    Hey what's a body bug and where do you get one??:smile:
  • KellyBurton1
    KellyBurton1 Posts: 529 Member
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    The deficit is you net right?
  • tabbilynn0402
    tabbilynn0402 Posts: 7 Member
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    When I started burning 1000+ calories per workout and trying to keep really busy during the day to make my deficit higher, I started plateauing and then gaining. I think if the deficit gets to be too much, your body reacts differently. I would at least eat a little more than the 12-1500 you're sitting at. If you believe your Body bug is being accurate, and you're going to burn close to 4000 on some days, I would certainly try to eat at least a couple hundred more calories a day and get it closer to the 2000 mark. Maybe the switch up will help. Good luck!
  • Choltor
    Choltor Posts: 65 Member
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    From what I've read, you should try not to let your deficit go above 1000 Calories, for similar reasons to not having an intake of less than 1200 Calories...then again, I'm new to this, so that might not be right
  • amymeenieminymo
    amymeenieminymo Posts: 2,394 Member
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    I'm assuming the amounts burned are from wearing your BB all day for normal activity. You don't need to do that, MFP will calculate everytrhing for you. This is all you need to do:

    Enter in your age, weight, height, and whatever other personal information MFp asks for.

    Enter your activity level (sedentary if you mostly are in inactive at work, lightly active if you are...well lightly active). Note, this only applies to your daily activities. Don't say you're lightly active if you have a desk job but go for walks each morning and night.

    Choose how much you want to lose each week, 1 pound a week is recommended.

    MFP will then give you the number of calories you should eat in a day. You should shoot for eating that number (it will be the amount you need to eat in order to lose a pound a week, or whatever you specifed you want to lose)

    Wear your BB only when you work out, record your calories burned for your work out and enter them in under exercise. This will add to your daily goal of how much you should eat. So say you should eat 1200 calories a day and you work out and burn 500 calories, you should then be eating 1700 calories that day.

    And that's it......your calorie deficit will be the difference in calories that you need to maintain your weight, and the calories you'll eat to lose weight. For example, if you want to lose 1 pound a week, your daily calorie deficit will be 500 calories (500 per day X 7 days = 3500 = 1 pound lost).
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
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    I am not an expert so I could be totally wrong but for your weight, why are you eating so few calories? I think if I did the math correctly you should be eating like 2000 a day until you lose weight and have to readjust for the loss and the desire to keep losing.

    I think maybe you are building up too much of a deficit.

    What kind of foods are you eating is your diary open for a look?
  • willimh
    willimh Posts: 227 Member
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    I too have the bodybugg and my deficits are large just like yours and guess what, I am not losing either but, Im not gaining either. I am going to try and do maybe 30 mins of cardio a day and not 1hr-2. I want to see how that will work. I really don't understand what is happening but, im gone try and make some adjustments
  • jaimejean478
    jaimejean478 Posts: 152 Member
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    I am not an expert so I could be totally wrong but for your weight, why are you eating so few calories? I think if I did the math correctly you should be eating like 2000 a day until you lose weight and have to readjust for the loss and the desire to keep losing.

    I think maybe you are building up too much of a deficit.

    Not an expert either, but I agree with this post!
  • AnaNotBanana
    AnaNotBanana Posts: 963 Member
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    It looks like you're not eating enough. It seems weird that you have to eat more to lose more. The best analogy that I heard was your body is like a car, if you want it to move forward you have to give it fuel.
  • bentobee
    bentobee Posts: 321 Member
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    I think your deficit is too high.

    I use BodyMedia Fit, so I have the same data. When I was running large deficits like that (averaging 1200 deficit a day) I totally plateaued for weeks. I had been going to the gym and doing a lot of cardio to get in 1100 calorie burn workouts. I have backed off that, focusing on 30 Day Shred (and dog walking, :laugh:) and am maintaing a deficit around 800 calories a day now and dropping weight again like clockwork - about 2 pounds a week.

    edited to add: Running a big deficit once or twice a week is probably just fine, but doing it every day is just going to backfire in most cases.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,944 Member
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    Eat. That is all. There are thousands of threads here that tell you why.
  • FabiolaEnvy♥
    FabiolaEnvy♥ Posts: 730
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    it could also have to do with what you are eating.

    i dont know since i cant see your food dairy.


    but you should be losing weight.
    and if you aren't. its cause your body could have gotten use to the workout routine that it doesn't want to lose weight.

    are you watching your sodium?


    i mean i have burn 1000 + and eat about 1500 - 1800 and i can still lose the weight.

    so i don't know where you are struggling at right now.
    all i can do is ask questions...

    and i dont think you are eating enough calories. if you burn that much...

    cause having a bodybug you should be losing weight. just like the Biggest Loser are.
  • makcarly
    makcarly Posts: 24 Member
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    I am not an expert so I could be totally wrong but for your weight, why are you eating so few calories? I think if I did the math correctly you should be eating like 2000 a day until you lose weight and have to readjust for the loss and the desire to keep losing.

    I think maybe you are building up too much of a deficit.

    What kind of foods are you eating is your diary open for a look?

    2000? :noway: I set my activity level to sedentary and MFP gave me roughly 1500 calories per day. I am going to do it though because what I am doing now obviously isn't working.

    I eat pretty much the same thing everyday. Breakfast is a Fiber One plus antioxidant bar, lunch is sometimes an egg sandwich with a baked potato or a chicken patty without the bread and a baked potato, or tuna and a baked potato. Dinner is usually grilled chicken or chicken cordon bleu (220 cals) with another baked potato and a bread stick. I eat the potato's plain with just a little spray butter. Sometimes I will have fast food which is always something from Subway or a grilled chicken from Wendy's. I will have a granola bar for a snack and a WW ice cream bar for desert. I maybe have one Diet Coke a week and the rest of the time I drink water with a squirt of Mio. I know my diet is definitely lacking in fruits and veggies but I am slowly adding them in.
  • TheKitsune6
    TheKitsune6 Posts: 5,798 Member
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    Starvation mode doesn't happen with the wave of a wand, ketosis happens after a few weeks and there is usually loss before the plateau happens and certainly not weight gain.

    My first guess is that you should only wear the bodybugg to record burn when you are exercising - let your BMR (I prefer RMR but that's just me)

    My NEXT guess is that you may not be eating as few calories as you think. Go over the labels and double check serving sizes or servings per container. That threw me off when I first started dieting
  • rachel5576
    rachel5576 Posts: 429 Member
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    i agree with the others that said you need to eat more. A few hundred calorie deficit is ok but not 1000 repeatedly.
  • fitnessbugg
    fitnessbugg Posts: 141 Member
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    Wear your Bodybugg all the time. It is a very accurate device that measures your caloric output. You will have more information from it than the generalized computations this site provides for calories in and out. This site is wonderful for tracking what you eat and getting support along your weight loss journey. You have the tools to do the rest. Start with a 1000 deficit per day. Look at your bugg and record your food being mindful that you want to hit your numbers.

    In my case I am going for a 700-calorie deficit. I usually burn 2300 cals according to my bodybugg so I want to eat 1600 cals a day. Since MFP tells me 1200 cals without exercise, you will normally see that I put in 400 for exercise to equal the 1600 as long as I hit on my bodybugg the 2300 for the day. If I hit 2500 for the day, I will adjust the exercise up by 200 (to 600). If I'm just not active at all and only burn 1900 for the day, I will not record any exercise on MFP and just eat my base amount.

    With the Bodybugg you have MORE information than this site provides, so rely on it and use it to its full potential. When you figure out the perfect deficit for you, the weight will come off. If this isn't clear for you, friend me and I will try to help you.
  • ashmarie019
    ashmarie019 Posts: 4 Member
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    I agree with the other poster who suggested re-evaluating how you are counting your calories.... i.e. double check labels and serving sizes to make sure you are calculating your calories correctly by weighing and measuring everything.

    That was my biggest problem when I first started. After weighing and measuring all of my portions I realized I was eating way more calories than I thought.

    Having said all that maybe you are weighing and measuring meticulously and I do not have any other suggestions, but good for you for not giving up and continuing on. And Great Job thus far on losing 46lbs that is quite an acheivement.
  • lilmisslanna
    lilmisslanna Posts: 104 Member
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    BUMP.. to read later

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